Title: Institutional pressures and internal motivations of work-life balance organisational arrangements in Italy

Authors: Matteo Pedrini; Laura Maria Ferri; Egidio Riva

Addresses: ALTIS-Postgraduate School Business and Society, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via San Vittore, 18 – 20123 Milano (MI), Italy ' Faculty of Sociology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via San Vittore, 18 – 20123 Milano (MI), Italy ' Faculty of Sociology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Gemelli, 1 – 20123 Milano (MI), Italy

Abstract: Drawing upon theories regarding both institutional and organisational culture, this paper explores how organisations respond to both coercive pressures and internal motivations when implementing work-family balance (WFB) arrangements, thus making an original contribution to the field. The study is developed using the Italian context, which represents a well-known welfare-state model, and includes a sample of 107 organisations divided nearly equally among the for-profit, non-profit and public sectors. The study's results suggest that there is sector-specific heterogeneity in terms of both motivations for implementing WFB and the types of arrangements provided. Indeed, the various institutional contexts that characterise sectors significantly influenced the WFB arrangements implemented at the organisational level. In addition, the various cultural settings and attitudes of the three sectors determined various behaviour patterns.

Keywords: work-family balance; WFB; institutional theory; family arrangements; work-family policies; welfare; Italy; institutional pressures.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHRDM.2018.093446

International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management, 2018 Vol.18 No.3/4, pp.257 - 281

Accepted: 21 Mar 2017
Published online: 26 Jul 2018 *

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